Physics Commons^™

Radiative Cooling Ii: Effects Of Density And Metallicity, Ye Wang, Gary J. Ferland, Matt Lykins, R. L. Porter, Peter A. M. Van Hoof, R. J. R. Williams

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

This work follows Lykins et al. discussion of classic plasma cooling function at low density and solar metallicity. Here, we focus on how the cooling function changes over a wide range of density (n_H <10¹² cm⁻³) and metallicity (Z < 30 Z_⊙). We find that high densities enhance the ionization of elements such as hydrogen and helium until they reach local thermodynamic equilibrium. By charge transfer, the metallicity changes the ionization of hydrogen when it is partially ionized. We describe the total cooling function as a sum of four parts: those due to H&He, the heavy …